A review of the subfamily Eliminiinae (Cirripedia: Thoracica: Austrobalanidae), including a new genus, Protelminius nov., from the Oligocene of New Zealand

• Published in: Zootaxa
• Main Authors: BUCKERIDGE, JOHN S., NEWMAN, WILLIAM A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Mangolia Press 2010
• Subjects: Crustacea; Balanomorpha; Tetraclitoidea; Austrominius; Elminius; Hexaminius; †Matellionius; †Protelminius; Antarctic; Australia; New Zealand; South America; South Africa; Europe (introduced); The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.2349.1.3; https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2349.1.3

The Elminiinae, comprising the four-plated taxa Elminius Leach, 1825 (one species), Austrominius Buckeridge, 1983 (six species), †Matellionius Buckeridge, 1983 (one species), a new Oligocene genus, †Protelminius (one species), plus the six-plated Hexaminius Foster, 1982a (two species), is reviewed and current geographic distributions of its species updated. While originally restricted to southern Australia, New Zealand and southernmost South America, one species, A. modestus (Darwin, 1854), was introduced to England during World War II and is now more widely distributed in Europe. The status of four questionable species of Austrominius, currently attributed to a restricted region within South Australia, is discussed. A re-evaluation of the subfamily’s morphology, triggered by recent phylogenetic studies, suggests it be removed from the lower Balanoidea and placed closest to the lower Tetraclitoidea, i.e. to a position envisaged for Elminius s.l. in Darwin (1854). The fossil record of the revised Austrobalanidae is re-evaluated in light of palaeogeography, indicating that the family may have originated during the Eocene in waters off what is now the Antarctic Peninsula.